A VERY RARE LARGE FAMILLE ROSE STANDING FIGURE OF ZHONGKUI 'THE DEMON QUELLER' Qianlong period, circa 1750 Boldly sculpted in the round, the bearded figure of Zhonggui body enameled in striking coral-red and other colors standing aggressively on a green-glazed base with his demon-quelling sword held aloft, his movable tongue articulated, fighting with four small demons around him, one demon grabbing at his raised arm, one blue-faced demon standing on a blue scholar's rock grabbing his garment, and a third trying vainly to prevent the aptly-named 'Demon Queller' from mercilessly quelling the fourth demon under his foot. 11 1/2in (29cm) high Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1750年 珍稀粉彩鍾馗大件擺飾 Published Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 148-149, no. 65 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tyger Tyger!》，安特衛普，2016年，頁148-149，圖版編號65 Zhonggui was a popular Chinese figure with a ferocious, eye-bulging countenance who guarded Chinese households during the Duanwu Festival, expelling evil spirits and counteracting their mischievous propensities against unwanted demons (Bartholomew 2006, no. 10.19, p. 285). In this model, his flexible tongue is suspended on a wire inside the head so that if the figure is moved the tongue appears to waggle threateningly. Another example closely related to this figure was found in the cargo of the salvaged Dutch East India merchant ship the Geldermalsen which sank in 1752 and is now in the Groninger Museum (1986.0730). Porcelain figures with articulated tongues are also in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum (E83938.1-.2). References: Cohen & Cohen, 2014, p. 50, no. 29, for a single massive figure of Zhonggui and a discussion about him; and Cohen & Cohen 2012, no. 28, p. 46, for a later example with one demon; while other examples were seen at Sotheby's New York, 18 April 1989, lot 449, a figure with one only demon, and at Sotheby's Monaco, 23 June 1985, lot 663, a similar figure with four demons; and see Cohen & Motley, 2008, nos. 32-4, pp. 80-83, where they illustrate three figures of Zhonggui.